Top Chef: Mark is Eliminated
The Top Chef quickfire challenge this week featured Oprah’s personal chef, Art Smith. The chefs had to use Uncle Ben’s microwavable rice to create a fabulous entrée in only 15 minutes. After everyone scuttled around the kitchen, Chef Smith surveyed the finished dishes. The three dishes he liked the least were Mark, Stephanie (who was hoping to finally win a quickfire), and Lisa. The top three were Dale, Richard, and Antonia, with Antonia being named the winner. She created a rice salad with skirt steak that sounded a bit odd, but Chef Smith loved the combination.
For the elimination challenge, the chefs had to create a simple, affordable, nutritious dinner for a family of four – with only a $10 budget! Most everyone ran for chicken at the supermarket, but Mark decided to go vegetarian and Dale got turkey sausage. Padma had a surprise for the chefs – they would have a tween helping them prepare the meal in the kitchen. There was one more surprise to come – Tom was going to hang out in the kitchen the entire time, even sampling the dishes there.
Once Tom joined the judges, they definitely clear on the dishes they liked and didn’t like. Those they liked were Nikki’s one pot roasted chicken and veggies, Andrew’s chicken paillard, and Antonia’s pasta dish, which was deemed the winner. Those they didn’t like was like a case of history repeating itself. It was Mark (who made curry, but it was too sweet and had no protein), Lisa (her dish was healthy, but just bland and not tasty), and again poor Stephanie, who decided to combine peanut butter and tomatoes – ick. It was funny when they asked Mark why he thought he was there and he said, “because Tom doesn’t like me.” In the end, it was Mark that was asked to pack his knives and leave, but Tom did throw in that he doesn’t dislike him and someday they’d have a pint together.
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May 5th, 2008 at 8:52 pm
I was surprised that Stephanie was in the bottom again. She was really strong in the beginning. Equally surprised that Nikki and Antonia were in the top three. Both of them had struggled for so long. I still think Richard, Dale, Stephanie and Andrew are the chefs to beat.